The final game of the 2020/21 season saw Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur both vying for European places for next season. Leicester were looking for the Champions League whilst Spurs were looking for the Europa League or new Europa Conference League. Ultimately it was a painful day for Brendan Rodgers- seeing Tottenham Hotspur break Leicester City hearts.
Tottenham Hotspur Break Leicester City Hearts in Final Day Drama
Kane’s Golden Farewell?
Harry Kane may have been playing his last game for Spurs but he still had the matter of winning the golden boot to attend to and, when he equalised with a superb volley on 41 minutes, he nudged himself onto 23 goals, one ahead of Liverpool’s Mohammed Salah and it was enough to give him a third victory.
It was another great personal achievement for Kane but one that only serves to underline the lack of team silverware he has won with his beloved Spurs.
Leicester’s home crowd were up for this match and Jamie Vardy fired them ahead from the penalty spot after being brought down by Toby Alderweireld. Anthony Taylor waved the shouts for a penalty away as the match carried on. VAR, however, asked him to take a look at the pitch side monitor and it was only a quick look as he could see that the Belgian defender had brought Vardy down with his trailing leg.
The problems started with Spurs giving the ball away before Davinson Sanchez reacted slow and far too weak- allowing his opponent to brush him aside as if he wasn’t there. The penalty was a mere formality.
Tottenham’s Defensive Shambles on Show Once Again
Vardy’s eyes lit up every time he got the ball and made a bee line for Sanchez, who simply could not handle his man at all- giving away a clumsy penalty as Vardy doubled his tally from the spot to fire Leicester into the driving seat for Champions League qualification with Chelsea losing at Aston Villa.
Vardy did go down rather easily but the way he got goal-side of Sanchez was all too easy and it was yet another demonstration of why Spurs’ season has been a bleak one. Defensive mistakes, incoherent passing and a general lack of energy in too many games has seen Spurs slip from table toppers in December to a team who will now play in the inaugural Europa Conference League, have no manager and their best player of the modern era is on the verge of walking away from a club slipping into deeper and deeper into crisis.
Gareth Bale Grabs Two Goals to Give Spurs European Football
Gareth Bale made a cameo appearance in what could also be his last game for Tottenham and it gave Spurs all three points and european football for next season albeit in the new Europa Conference League. But finishing above Arsenal will be the thing that brings smiles to the Spurs fans faces after a tumultuous season that started with hope and opportunity before ending with a final day win to secure a finish outside of the top six.
Tottenham Hotspur Break Leicester City Hearts but it is Leicester Looking Forward
Missing out on the Champions League for a second successive season will be hard to take for Leicester but they have won the FA Cup this season and they are currently a long way ahead of Spurs when it comes to being forward thinking and achieving success.
Five years has seen the Premier League and FA Cup arrive at the King Power whilst Spurs have alarmingly drifted backwards since their 2018 Champions League defeat to Liverpool. Mauricio Pochettino was sacked and Jose Mourinho was brought in to turn a team of nearly men into winners but it was a gamble that went very wrong.
Leicester have something to build on but for Spurs they will need to restart once again and it could be a very long journey. Qualifying for the Europa Conference is a long way from the team that Pochettino built. Whoever comes in next will need time, resources and the full and unequivocal backing of the Tottenham chairman, Daniel Levy, if Spurs are to be a top four club once more.
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